Issue 34: May 31, 2023

Warmer weather has just begun and somehow already feels over.

Good evening, readers! Time seems to speed up each year, and we have never felt it more than this year—nay, this month—when we have so much on our to-do list. In our part of the world, it only stopped snowing LAST MONTH, and it was not even consistently warm THIS MONTH. Thoughts like “Why bother planting anything because it’ll all be dead in a few months” start creeping in . . . but we suppose that’s no way to live. Anyway, let’s see how we’ve spent our past month on this rock that is hurtling itself through space.

What we’ve been doing . . .

This month, Jessica and her publisher revealed the cover for How to Taste Coffee, which publishes October 24. We would say “PREORDER NOW,” but we are hoping that we might pull together a fun presale campaign that involves extras, so stay tuned. Jessica reviewed the page proofs this month, and then the book will be indexed and sent to the printer. Now, her attention will turn toward marketing plans.

Here is a mockup of the cover. As you can see, it is very similar to the first book’s cover. [Note: Substack does not allow you to adjust picture sizes, so if you are reading this on a computer . . . apologies.]

Publishers Weekly, a trade magazine, announced the book’s publication as part of a “top 10” fall cookbooks roundup, which is cool (except they described the book with nonsense terms that appear no where in the book or marketing material . . . which is concerning . . . )

Andreas was promoted at work to regional manager, Midwest, which means he is beginning to transition from his technical role into a sales role. It means a little more travel and a little more autonomy. He spent one weekend this month at the National Restaurant Association trade show in Chicago, meeting with some prospective clients and learning from others on the sales team.

Another perk? He has to go to Milan, Italy (where the company is headquartered), in July, and Jessica is going to tag along! He will have to work for a few days, but we are staying a few extra days. And luckily, we decided back in March that we needed to be on top of renewing our passports “just in case,” and they arrived this week! We are ready to go.

Andreas, Jessica, and Michael trying to identify a bird on the Cowles Bog trail. Photo by Morgan Krehbiel.

May is peak bird migration season. We hiked Cowles Bog (which is technically a fen) with friends Morgan and Michael in search of birds. We heard a lot of birds but did not identify a lot of birds. Jessica had more luck later in the month, walking through the park after work.

Pair of mute swans in the lagoon by our house.

A few more house issues have been (knock on wood) cleared up. The attic insulation has been checked, and there were no signs of mold (which we were afraid of since, as you’ll recall, a piece of ductwork was uninsulated and developing condensation in the winter). And the window/door guy came out to fix a few issues that were unresolved from the last time he was out.

Yard work has been slow this month. Our house needs to be regraded around the foundation because it was either not done properly in the first place or the sand shifted so much that it got messed up. We thought the foundation people would do it, but they didn’t. Then we were going to do it ourselves, but it was taking too much time. So we decided to hire someone, who can’t come out until next month. Until we have a final grade around the house, some of our projects, like the pathway to the front doors and the deck step, are on hold.

(We have felt bad inviting people over without these things because it can be hard and unpleasant to walk through the sand and step up on the deck to get to the doors . . . but it will happen, eventually.)

Andreas laying down the cardboard. The bricks are just temporary, so we could see the proposed border.

Instead, we turned our attention to weed suppression. We are turning somewhat large portions of the front yard into flower beds. Under the trees where we pulled all those weeds last month, we are trying a technique to kill/prevent weeds and create soil. You lay down cardboard, soak it with water, and then put several inches of mulch on top. In four to six months, the cardboard supposedly decomposes, the weeds are killed from heat and lack of sunlight, and you’re ready to plant. We have done two “sections” of the flowerbed and have maybe three more to go, then we’ll move on to the next area of the yard.

Section one covered with mulch and section two with cardboard.

Where we currently stand. Several of these trees are invasive tree of heaven and will eventually go, but in order to kill them, you have to time it right (late summer is the best season for . . . murder).

In the meantime, we are testing transplanting some native ferns that Jessica’s sister had in her yard and is looking to get rid of. We planted those first before putting down the cardboard. We are also trying to pull grasses and weeds as they come up in the cleared areas, which “depletes the seed bank” and hopefully means we’ll have less weeds when we do plant in the fall.

Transplanted ostrich ferns. We’ll see if they live.

What we’ve been consuming . . .

We have been reading about how part of the WGA strike is to prevent studios from using scripts to train AI to replace writers; the best way to call a cat; how the Tennessee abortion ban put a mother (and many like her) through absolute hell, preventing timely medical care; how the US Supreme Court’s recent decision means certain wetlands—one of our most precious resources that prevent flooding and store carbon emissions, both of which we will desperately need in the coming years—are no longer federally protected, including the ones near us in Indiana, which are threatened on all sides by industry; and big picture perspective on how the manufactured debt ceiling crisis is damaging the United States’ international standing, even if we put a two-year band aid on it. So. You know. Fun stuff.

“When a rich and powerful country finds it easier to cut back on the way that it invests in its people, in education, in science, and in making sure that the weakest among them are not completely left behind than to curtail useless and profligate weapons spending, there are reasons to worry about the foundations of its power.” —Howard W. French, Foreign Policy

Andreas is currently reading Activities of Daily Living by Lisa Hsiao Chen, and Jessica is reading If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim.

We are watching Top Chef: World All-Stars (in real time for a change!). It’s the twentieth season and the contestants are winners and runners up from not only the US version but also international versions of Top Chef.

We are listening to the Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade (which Jessica was skeptical of but it’s chaotic and fun, especially if you like comedy and SNL), Grunge playlists, and Rumors (Fleetwood Mac) radio on Spotify.

PIC of the month

Andreas and niece Zeezee on the teeter-totter. Not pictured: Jessica’s flailing body on the other side.